1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a meter module, in which meters, control circuits and the like are assembled for mounting them in an instrument panel of a car, and a structure for assembling the meter module in a car body. The meter module is defined as an electric accessory unit which is acquired by integrally coupling switches and meters with electronic components for their control and with a flexible printed circuit board.
2. Description of the Prior Art
To set up an electric circuit for an instrument panel of a car, there has been employed means for the manual installation of a wire harness, which is prepared based on a necessary electric circuit, in the body of the car or in the instrument panel of an dashboard of the car, and for connecting connectors of the wire harness with switches and connectors of meters.
In consonance with the development of electronics and enhanced electric car controls, a number of switches and meters to be provided in the instrument panel in front of drivers seats in the car has been increased, and electric circuits have become more complicated. Wire harnesses to be employed in the car to form such electric circuits have grown so large and heavy that they can not easily be retained in limited spaces, and the work involved in their assembly tends to be complex and inefficient.
In order to simplify the electric circuits in the instrument panels, a meter module M shown in FIG. 7, for example, has been proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. Hei 7-96774. The meter module M comprises a cluster module d and a finish panel e to be attached to the front face of the cluster module d. The cluster module d is constituted by collectively and integrally coupling together an instrument board a provided with meters, indicator lamps and their drivers, an electric connection box b containing a power source for vehicle-mounted electric accessories including the meters, indicator lamps and the like and a functional circuit for distributing input/output signals to the vehicle-mounted electric accessories and controlling the components therein, and a switch unit c containing switches for the electric accessories.
As seen in FIG. 8, the meter module M is mounted at a prearranged portion of an instrument panel f and is electrically connected to an installed wire harness g by coupling a connector h of the wire harness g with a connector i of the meter module M.
In such meter module M, however, it has been required to change the structures of the cluster module d and finish panel e in order to modify designs of the meters and the switches and to change the functions thereof in accordance with the grade of a car. Accordingly, there has been a problem such that it is required to prepare many different modules for every type of car, and this in turn has resulted in the increase of the load of manufacturing and storing these modules. Further, when accessories are mounted around the periphery and on the reverse side of the meter modules, it is difficult to employ this method for a multi-functional dashboard because of a limited space to store.